


Swing High, Swing Low (and hope they come to carry you home)

by TrashyInferno



Series: stand tall AU [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Gen, stand tall au, they took the deal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26565421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashyInferno/pseuds/TrashyInferno
Summary: What if, after the Orpheum, Caleb got to the garage before Julie?What if, because they didn’t want to worry Julie, the boys said yes?the Stand Tall au no one asked for, but I couldn't help but write
Relationships: Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina & Luke Patterson
Series: stand tall AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1967437
Comments: 32
Kudos: 155





	1. Settle Down and Reconcile (that your decisions aren't your own)

“I’mma stand tall!”

Luke and Reggie shared a grin. This was what they’d wanted since they were twelve and saw Metallica win a Grammy award for “One” on Luke’s television. The chance to be here, performing. To have their band make it big.

Luke felt the familiar _woosh_ as he vanished from mortal view. He looked down at himself – any minute now, he’d move on, right?

Instead, a sharp jolt of pain nearly bowled him over. He looked up, catching first Reggie’s, then Alex’s eyes. Alex shook his head and motioned toward Julie, who was soaking in the applause. Luckily, she hadn’t looked behind her yet.

His meaning was clear: they needed to get out of there before Julie figured it out.

Luke nodded and poofed back into the garage. It seemed like Reggie had gotten the message, too, because he’d ported along with Alex.

“Dude, why are we still here?” Reggie asked. “I don’t get it. The Orpheum was our unfinished business!” He plopped onto the couch and put his head in his hands.

“Obviously, it wasn’t,” Alex replied. He grunted as he lowered himself to the floor. “That last one really took it out of me,” he explained as Luke looked at him with concern.

Now that Luke thought about it, he did feel drained. He began to lower himself to the floor as well, but another shock sent him sprawling. He tried to move, but his limbs felt like lead. Every muscle in his body was on fire.

“What’re we gonna do?” Reggie asked through labored breathing. “If Julie finds us, she’s gonna worry.”

Another problem in all of this mess. Luke groaned. They’d been such _idiots_. “I guess we stay here. Turn out the lights. Hope she doesn’t find us,” he said.

Alex sighed from his position on the floor next to him. “Dude, this will be the first place she comes when she gets back from the Orpheum. She’s gonna want to share what happened tonight with her mom.”

 _And with us_ , went unspoken.

“We can’t ruin that by being here when she does,” Reggie acknowledged. Luke heard something shuffling, and after a few long moments, Reggie landed on the ground between Luke and Alex. “But we don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

“Ah, but you do, boys,” a voice said. Luke tried to get to his feet, but only managed to get as far as sitting up before another wave of pain rolled through him. His strength gave out, and he fell, twitching, to the floor.

Caleb’s face appeared above him. The man was grinning as if he’d just shared an inside joke with the band. “You can always come with me. Join my club.” The grin turned into a smile. “The music doesn’t have to end here.”

Luke grimaced. “We’re not joining your band, Caleb,” he said through gritted teeth. “So stop asking.”

He heard a car door slam in the driveway. Julie was back! They needed to get out of here before she came in here and saw them.

Caleb cocked his head. “Oh, is that a _Julie_ I hear?” he said with mock happiness. “I’ve been meaning to introduce myself.” His smile narrowed into a sneer. “And think of how _happy_ she’ll be when she discovers that you’re all still here. Why, she might just die from it!”

“You leave her out of this,” Luke spat with all the venom he could muster. He braced his hands against the floor and tried to life himself up. “I swear I’ll-“

“You’ll what?” Caleb asked. He gripped Luke's collar and yanked him into a standing position. Luke’s feet scrabbled against the floor in an effort to gain some sort of leverage, but Caleb simply held him higher off of the ground so that his toes barely caught any purchase. “You’ve got _nothing_. Accept the deal with me, and she’ll never have to know you didn’t move on. She can go about her daily life thinking that you’re in a better place.”

Alex coughed from the floor. He moved slowly, but he managed to get to his feet. “I accept,” he said softly. “Yes. I’ll take it. Whatever it is you want me to say.” Luke glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Alex simply shrugged. “I can’t let Julie see this,” he said softly. “It would make her sad, and she’s already lost enough.”

Reggie, who’d seemingly given up on moving, said, “Then I’m taking it, too.” Luke craned his neck down toward his band-mate. Reggie’s smile was thin, his eyes betraying his discomfort with what he was saying. “I’m not getting her caught up in this. It’s better if she doesn’t know.” He reached down and pushed himself into a sitting position. “And I’m not letting Alex do this alone.”

Caleb’s attention returned to Luke. “Well? Whaddya say?” he asked, mirroring what he’d said earlier that night just after he’d tried to convince them to join him.

Luke stared into Caleb’s face. He looked for some chip in the armor, but nothing in Caleb’s face so much as twitched. In the distance, he could hear Julie and her family singing. They were close.

“Just a minute. Love you!” Julie said not to far outside the garage. Luke could hear her soft footsteps on the cement. He’d used to wait for those footsteps every afternoon, and while he’d always been excited to hear them before, he felt nothing but terror.

“Tick tock, Luke,” Caleb whispered.

He heard the latch on the door click. Now or never.

“Yes,” he whispered.

Caleb’s sneer widened into a smile. “Wonderful!” he said. He dropped Luke and clapped his hands. The purple mark on Luke’s armed glowed, and he began to feel a little stronger. He definitely wasn’t at full strength, but something told him that he wouldn’t be feeling that way in a long time.

The door to the garage opened. Luke, Reggie, and Alex shared a panicked look. Luke screwed his eyes shut, visualizing himself anywhere but here, but nothing happened. He wildly looked at Caleb, who grinned. “You won’t be able to pop anywhere until you’ve earned the privilege,” he explained as Julie walked into the room. “Now watch.”

Julie sighed, the soft sound seeming to fill the entire room. “I…,” she began softly, “I know I already said this but uh…” She paused and her gaze roamed the room. Luke could hear someone, probably Reggie, gasp as her eyes flitted right over them. But the singer simply looked upward and continued, “Thank you guys.”

“You’re welcome,” Reggie said softly.

She smiled and turned her back to them, her hand reaching for the light. She paused briefly before flicking the switch into the off position. The garage went dark.

Julie closed the garage door and left. Luke felt a piece of his heart go with her.

“Now I think it’s time that we go,” Caleb announced. “We wouldn’t want to disturb her, now would we?” He clapped his hands, and Luke felt the familiar _poof_.

He, Reggie, and Alex reappeared on Caleb’s stage. Luke grimaced as the stage lights nearly blinded him.

“Now, boys, now that you’re a part of my crew, we’re going to have to do some rehearsing,” Caleb said. He stood in front of them, his smile wider than Luke had ever seen it. The old ghost had always seemed to ooze power, but now he seemed to radiate it. “There are a few staples of the show that you’re going to need to learn, like Other Side of Hollywood. You’ll also have to learn a bit of choreography, learn about costume changes… Oh! And I hear that you’re a songwriter, Luke. We might just have a use for your talents, yes? But none of that feel good rock music, we like a more showtuney kind of “vibe” as the kids are saying these days.”

Luke blinked, barely following Caleb’s… whatever that was. He stood there trying to decipher what Caleb had been saying until Reggie nudged him with his shoulder. “Dude,” he whispered.

Caleb’s speech had come to a stop; the ghost was looking at him expectantly.

Luke felt heat rise to his face. “Ah, right. Um… can you go through that again?”

Caleb’s smile turned into a frown. “I understand that this is a lot, Luke. But you’re a bright boy. Follow along, please,” he said.

 _Uh oh_. “It’s not that I’m not paying attention!” Luke protested. “It’s just that… well, how come Julie couldn’t see us? And why couldn’t we, y’know, poof?” he said, putting up his hands and pushed his fingers outward to demonstrated what he meant.

“Oh that?” Caleb chuckled. “When you said yes to the deal, you signed your ghost abilities over to me. I have control of them now.”

“So you took them from us?” Alex asked. “We can’t use them?”

Caleb shook his head. “Think of it like a trust fund, boys. I hold on to your powers until you’re ready for them,” Caleb said, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “And you’re not quite ready for them just yet. Give it a century or so, then we’ll talk.”

Alex shoved Caleb’s hand away. “A century?” he asked incredulously. “You expect us to wait a _century_?”

“Well,” Caleb replied, “I might return them sooner if you can prove yourselves worthy of my trust. But truly, boys, what’s a century when you’re going to be here for an _eternity_?” He smiled. “Believe me, it will go by in a flash. Now! Let’s get to work!”

He clapped his hands and the two other members of Sunset Curve vanished. Luke opened his mouth to protest, but Caleb waved a hand and his mouth closed. “Not to worry, I just sent them to costume and makeup. We need to find them proper outfits for tomorrow night’s performance.” He motioned to Luke to follow him as he walked off the stage.

Luke found his legs moving without his permission, and he sighed through his nose. Seemed like Caleb had taken more than just their powers.

“Now,” Caleb continued, “I hear you’re a songwriter?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This kind of... hit me? Like a full on train? The "think of it like a trust fund" line came to me first and the plot kind of unfurled from there! I took a few liberties with Caleb's abilities, but I figured that with the way WIllie was acting, Caleb could totally take ghost powers and grant them on a whim so long as the ghost in question has sealed the deal, so to speak.
> 
> I also decided to pull chapter titles and the story title from songs that I love - the story's title is a mix of Swing Low by the Wailing Jennys and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, an American spiritual. Ch 1. comes from the song Wildflowers (which comes from the musical, Fugitive Songs).
> 
> On an unrelated note: This Phandom is just so sweet and I keep seeing all these memes and videos and fan art and I can't help but be INSPIRED by all these amazing people (and don't even get me started on the stuff I've been reading here I just can't even). I'm totally excited to be able to contribute in any way - and I can't wait to see where this show and it's phans go! Keep showing support wherever you can so Netflix has no choice but to confirm a season 2!


	2. So Pick a Place (pretend it's home)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter comes from Pretend It's Home by Beth Crowley. I've always really liked the lyrics (not so much the melody), and I think they just fit here.
> 
> Edit: I updated this chapter to get more time continuity going.

Willie stared at Alex. “You did _what_?” he asked. He’d probably already said that, but he really couldn’t remember because they did _what_?

“We took the deal,” Alex said, his smile wan. “It was the only option we had.”

Willie felt his legs give out, and he sunk into the chair behind him. When Alex and Reggie had popped into costume and makeup, Willie had nearly jumped out of his (very dead) skin. They’d explained exactly what they were doing in Caleb’s club, but he was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the whole thing.

“What about the Orpheum?” he asked, looking between the two younger ghosts. “Wasn’t that your unfinished business?”

Reggie shrugged. “Apparently it wasn’t,” he replied. “When we were finished playing we still felt the whole shocky pain thing. We got out of there as quickly as we could so Julie wouldn’t see.”

Alex nodded. “And then Caleb came to us with the deal and we took it,” he finished. “Simple as that.” He looked around as if searching for something. “Not sure what happened to Luke, though. He came with us.”

Willie wasn’t surprised. Of the three bandmates, Luke was the strongest personality. Where he went, the others would follow. Caleb was probably separating them on purpose to keep them under his thumb. He didn’t mention it, though. He didn’t want to freak the guys out any more than they probably were – he’d bring it up later, once the dust settled a bit.

“Knowing Caleb, he’s probably probing for info on you guys,” he said. “I wouldn’t be too worried. Luke seems like a guy who knows what he’s doing.” He hopped to his feet, trusting his legs more now that the shock had worn off. “If you’re here, you’re here to look for costumes and stuff for tomorrow night. We should probably get that done.”

Reggie put his hands up in a _hold up_ gesture. “Hang on,” he said, “what do you mean, _probing for info_?” He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “What’s Caleb trying to learn?”

Willie sighed. “Caleb likes knowing everything he can about his…” he paused, trying to find the right word, “associates.” He walked over to one of the costume racks on the other side of the room and began perusing through its contents. It wasn’t necessarily for the guys, though that was a part of it. It was more himself trying to get some of the nervous energy out of his system. This really wasn’t a conversation he wanted to be having at this very moment. “You know, for interests, hobbies… things he can use you for.”

“You mean like our music?” Alex asked.

“Ah, sort of,” Willie replied, noting a short-sleeved button-down shirt that would look amazing on Luke. Tomorrow’s show was supposed to be a little more casual than tonight’s extravaganza, and he was sure the guys would appreciate something a little less stuffy than tuxes (he’d thought that the outfits Caleb had asked him to put together were a little to gaudy for the guys’ tastes). “You’re not just going to be in the band, you know? Everyone around here pulls their weight in different ways. Like, I help people with costumes and stuff like that.” He pulled a pale blue vest from the rack and turned around. “Here,” he said, handing it to Reggie, “try that on for me.”

“Is there something in there a little less… stuffy?” Reggie asked, his nose crinkling at the vest. “It’s not really my personal style.”

Willie smirked. “You won’t be wearing it all the time, dude,” he explained. “We just need to find stuff that might work for you when it’s showtime.” He turned back to the rack, looking for something Alex might be able to wear. “If you haven’t noticed, Caleb’s shows don’t really fit that whole rocker aesthetic you guys seem to like. It’s fine if you dress that way in your free time, but on stage it’s a no no.”

“Willie?” Alex called, his voice sounding slightly muffled. “I think the vest is a little big.”

Willie felt his brows furrow as he turned back to the two ghosts. “That shouldn’t be possible,” he said, “clothes don’t really have sizes when you’re a ghost.” Then he caught sight of Reggie, who was tugging at the vest sadly, its fabric reaching his thighs. The bassist looked up at him with a pitiful expression.

Willie bit his lip to keep himself from laughing at the ridiculous sight. “I’m guessing you never learned about the whole _visualization_ thing,” he said after he’d regained his composure.

“Visualization?” Reggie asked.

Willie nodded. “Visualization.” He motioned to Reggie with a hand. “Take that off,” he ordered wondering once again how these guys managed to irk Caleb so much, “I’ll demonstrate.”

Getting the vest off of Reggie was a bit of an ordeal (who knew an oversized vest could swallow someone so effectively?), but between him and Alex, they managed to get Reggie out of the thing without tearing it to shreds. Willie held the fabric in his hands and closed his eyes. He imagined himself in the vest.

He couldn’t help but smirk at the gasps he elicited from the two ghosts. He opened his eyes and tossed Reggie the vest. “Visualization,” he said, twirling in a circle to show off the vest he was now wearing. “Like I said, clothes in the ghost world don’t have sizes,” he explained. He allowed his clothes to shift back into his usual t-shirt and shorts. “You imagine what you look like in something and you’re wearing it. No sizes needed!”

Alex grinned. “Dude, that’s awesome!” he exclaimed. “It’s been so frustrating changing in and out of clothes every day. And Reggie kept leaving his behind every time we would warp somewhere.”

“Hey!” Reggie interjected, “I thought we weren’t going to talk about that!” He plopped onto one of the benches in the room and huffed.

Alex laughed and plopped down next to him. “We weren’t going to talk about that in front of _Julie_ ,” Alex teased, his smile genuine for the first time since he’d popped in here. Willie tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach at the sight. “We never said anything about Willie, so he’s fair game.”  
  
Reggie’s mouth arched down into a pout as he said, “Well we didn’t _know_ Willie at the time, so he should count now.”

Willie hid his grin behind a hand and turned back to the clothing racks. He had a job to do, and he was already in hot water with Caleb. He needed to move this along. He moved through the large racks, noting a few more items for Luke and Reggie as he went. He knew he needed to find something for Alex, but he wanted it to be _perfect_.

There! He grinned as he pulled a pale pink, long sleeved button-down shirt from the rack. He couldn’t help but crow in delight as he tossed it at Alex, who had hopped off of the bench and wandered over to the racks. “I think that’ll work,” Willie said, “give it a try for me?”

Alex smirked. “Sure thing,” he replied. It only took a few moments before his clothes were rippling.

Willie had always wondered why the process looked so fluid, like a drop of water had landed in a puddle and sent ripples in all directions. Caleb had said that it was because their bodies were fluid – they could change form from one second to the next.

Soon, Alex was staring down at his new outfit in wonder. “I didn’t know if that would work, but… it worked!” he crowed. He looked over to where Reggie was standing, his eyes screwed shut in concentration. “Reg, look! I did it!” he called.

Reggie opened one eye. “Great,” he said dryly, “now can you let me get back to it?”

Alex nodded. “Right, right,” he acknowledged. He tugged at the shirt. “I don’t think this is my style, either.”

Willie looked him up and down approvingly. The shirt may not have been his style, but pair it with the pale blue jeans he was wearing, and it might as well have been. The shirt tugged at just the right places, highlighting Alex’s muscle tone. While he might have been a music nerd in his life, he obviously hadn’t skimped on his exercise.

“I can probably fix that,” Willie said. He motioned for Alex to move closer and met him halfway. He started on the sleeves, rolling them so that the cuffs rested just above his elbows. He tried very hard to ignore how close the process made them (and he was _definitely_ not helped by the way Alex’s face seemed to be reddening). He took a step back and looked the drummer over. “Hang on,” he said. He swooped back in for one finishing touch, his hands reaching for Alex’s chest. He deftly unbuttoned the top three buttons which allowed _just_ enough of the ghost’s chest to show for it to be appropriate. He let his hands linger for a bit longer than was necessary before pulling back.

“There,” he said with a small smile. “Caleb’s not going to like it, but it’s not to the point where he’ll do anything about it.”

Alex returned the smile. “Thanks, Willie,” he said softly. Willie thought about averting his eyes and moving on to something else, but something kept him there, staring for what was probably much longer than necessary.

“Uh, not to ruin the moment,” Reggie said from his corner, “but I need a little help.”

Alex sighed and went over to his friend. “Here, Reg. Let me walk you through it.”  
  
Willie tried to tune out the sound of the friends bickering as he turned back to the racks. He quickly sorted through a few things, pulling aside anything that would work for the new ghost trio. He’d have them memorize their costumes for the different sets later. For now, he just needed to focus on tomorrow night’s performance.

Everything else could come after.

* * *

“And here’s your new songwriting space!” Caleb announced, throwing open some double doors that had been hidden at the top of some stairs just outside the main ballroom. The doors opened to a spacious room.

Three large windows took up most of the space on the opposite wall. Their heavy curtains had been drawn back so that natural light would light the room in its entirety once the sun had risen. In the meantime, a bright ceiling light illuminated the space with an unnaturally yellow glow.

A large desk and a very plush looking swivel chair had been placed in front of the farthest window from the door. An electric piano was placed perpendicular to it so that whoever was sitting there could simply swivel back and forth between the two workspaces without having to move much.

The rest of the room was bare. Luke could tell that it had been set up just for him, because it looked like no one had ever lived in it. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from protesting – he’d always written his best music in the thick of things, not in some stuffy room. But he wasn’t going to say anything about it. The band’s position was precarious enough without making Caleb think that he wasn’t grateful.

The ghost looked at him expectantly. Right.

“Thank you, Caleb,” Luke managed to eek out, “But I told you, it’s gonna be a bit before I feel up to writing you some new music.” He crossed the room to run his fingers over the piano keys. He’d never been great at the piano. He could plunk out a few notes here and there, enough for a melody, maybe a few basic chord progressions.

The piano was Julie’s thing, first and always.

Luke shook the thought away. “My situation’s changed, Reggie isn’t around to back me up, you want me to learn a new song style…” he trailed off, not wanting to add: _and my songwriting partner isn’t here._ Something told him that was a bad idea.

Caleb appeared just behind the piano. Luke pulled away in surprise as the man fiddled with a few of the knobs on the keyboard. “If a new song style is what you’re worried about, I can teach you,” he said without much inflection to his tone. Luke did his best to read the ghost’s face, but the man was scarily difficult to read. It was like he was always wearing a mask, but he had hundreds of them. By the time you figured out which one he was wearing, he’d already changed it. “And you’ll see your friend in a moment.”

The man looked up with a wide, toothy grin that made Luke shiver. “And you’ll get used to your new situation soon. I would hate to think of what would happen if you didn’t.” He stepped backward, and Luke felt the cold fade just a bit. “I would like a new song, Luke. Preferably by the end of the week,” he said. “But, while you think of some ideas, you might as well prepare for tomorrow. I’ll see you at rehearsal in the morning!”

He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Luke was in what looked to be a large dressing room. A large, wall length mirror stretched across one wall. Large lights were strung above it, presumably to help people change and do their makeup. A couple of large costume racks stood in one of the corners, and benches were scattered across the room.

Luke didn’t care about any of these things, however. He cared much more about the people sitting on one of those benches.

“Reg! Alex!” he cried, rushing in their direction. The two ghosts had looked up when Luke had appeared, and they were already on their way over to greet him.

“Dude,” Alex said, pulling him into a hug, “what happened? We got here, but you didn’t come with us.”

Reggie clapped him on the shoulder. “We were worried, but Willie said Caleb probably wanted to talk to you alone,” he explained, motioning in the direction of the third ghost.

Willie waved half-heartedly. Luke nodded at him in acknowledgement but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t quite ready to have that talk just yet. Instead, he focused on his friends.

“Yeah,” he said waving them off, “I got the grand tour of the place. I’ve even got a songwriting room. Apparently, Caleb’s feeling like his set’s a little bland.” He looked his friends up and down, noticing that something was different about them.

“What are you _wearing_?” he asked in disbelief.

Alex was wearing teal pants, a pink button-down, and a giant, feathery magenta boa. His head was covered with a teal blue hat that someone had bedazzled. “You look like someone’s vomited cotton candy all over you!” Luke exclaimed. He turned to Reggie, who was wearing a red, white, and blue suit, a long white fake beard, and a giant top hat. “And you – you look like Uncle Sam!”

Reggie grinned and bowed. “Why thank you,” he replied easily. “I think I look amazing.”

“Yeah,” Alex said with a bright smile, “don’t you like our new costumes?” He skipped across the room and back, doing a jump and a twirl around halfway. “They’re _fabulous_.”

“They’re – you…” Luke trailed off. He shot Willie a pleading look. “ _Please_ tell me this is a joke,” he pleaded. “This has got to be a joke.”

Willie grinned. “It is,” he said. He looked at the other two ghosts. “Come on guys, why don’t you show him what you’ve _really_ been working on?”

Luke stared in astonishment as Reggie’s and Alex’s clothes seemed to ripple like water. They slowly faded away, leaving behind their usual, everyday fare: jeans, a white Henley, and red flannel for Reggie and jeans, a grey sweatshirt, and a pink t-shirt for Alex. He could have _sworn_ that they left those outfits back at the garage with the rest of their stuff.

“What – how did you do that?” he asked as he circled around them to look for flaws, imperfections, _something_ to disprove the impossibility he was seeing before him.

Reggie’s face lit up even further than it already was. “It’s called visualization! You imagine you’re wearing it, and then you’re wearing it!” He closed his eyes again, and his clothes rippled into the outfit he’d been wearing at the Orpheum earlier that evening. Luke did his best to ignore the painful pang in his heart at the sight.

One more thing gone.

Luke shook the thought away and closed his eyes. _Imagine you’re wearing it_ , he thought to himself, _can’t be too hard, right?_ He imagined himself wearing his favorite sleeveless shirt and jeans. He’d always liked sleeveless shirts. They showed off is biceps rather well, and the girls seemed to really like the view.

“I swear, dude, you’re allergic to sleeves,” Reggie commented, pulling him from his thoughts.

He opened his eyes and looked down. Sure enough, he was wearing exactly what he’d wanted to wear, right down to the beanie he could feel on his head. His hair was even done the way he liked it! “Awesome!” he exclaimed. “This would have made things _so_ much easier.” And it really would have. Getting changed in the morning was difficult when your clothes kept falling through your hands. Or your body at very inopportune times, as they’d once found out after Luke’s shirt fell right through him during rehearsal.

Thankfully, it wasn’t anyone’s pants. They’d all spent a lot of time practicing putting on clothes after that incident.

“At least you’re all picking it up fast,” Willie said from where he’d been observing the scene. “It’ll make your costume changes easier later on down the road.”

The reminder hit Luke hard. He felt as if a vacuum had sucked all the joy out of the room. Seeing his friends and their discovery had made him forget what was happening for a bit, but it didn’t change anything about their situation.

“Let’s get you into costume for tomorrow, dude,” Willie said softly. “Then you three can go get familiar with the company members before you’re thrown into rehearsals.”

Luke nodded. There would be time for moping later. For now, he needed to do what was expected of him.

 _For Julie,_ he reminded himself, thinking of Caleb’s thinly veiled threat. _Do it for Julie._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some lightheartedness, some sad moments, some moments in between.
> 
> In big companies like I imagine Caleb's, everyone has multiple responsibilities. Some actors pull double duty on lights during performances when they're not on. Background dancers could do set changes. Choreographers can help with makeup, hair, etc. Honestly, it wouldn't be that far out of the realm of possibility for any one of Caleb's crew to be doing five or six jobs any given week - even if it's costumes.
> 
> I'd imagine that the reason it's Willie's shift on costumes in this chapter is because it's either his day on the rotation, or he's swapped with someone else to get there. I'll leave that one up to y'all.
> 
> Either way, it's convenient :)


	3. Interlude: Set Me Free, Leave Me Be (i don't want to fall another moment into your gravity)

After the events of the night, Julie went to sleep.

Well, she _tried_ to sleep, anyway. She wasn’t having much luck. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the performance – she’d been pretty wound tonight. Or, maybe she was feeling the distinct lack of cute ghost boys in her room.

She growled and rolled off the bed. She tugged her comforter from the mattress, grabbed her fluffiest pillow, and shuffled into her fuzzy slippers. The bulk made it a _little_ difficult to get down the stairs, but it wasn’t long before she’d stepped out the door and into the cool night.

Julie moved a little more carefully now that she was outside. She knew the way to the garage like the back of her hand, but she couldn’t see very well without her phone. She made her way down the sidewalk and nudged the gate to the side yard open with her shoulder. She’d forgotten to latch it properly in her haste to get out back to the house before she started crying.

She approached the studio with trepidation. While she’d gotten a lot of her tears out in the comfort of her bedroom, she wasn’t sure if this was such a good idea. Julie knew, instinctively, that no one was in there. She wasn’t going to walk in and see Luke sitting in his chair in front of Julie’s electric piano, his face pulled into a thoughtful frown as he chewed on the top of whatever pen he was using. She could imagine him bracing against the piano legs and pushing the front two legs of the chair off the ground so that he was precariously leaning backwards.

She wasn’t going to see Reggie geeking to Alex over whatever new thing he’d discovered today, his hands waving wildly in the air as he described his latest adventure. Julie wasn’t going to see Alex nodding along as he polished his drumstick, clearly enjoying the fact that he didn’t have to talk too much.

That was the nice thing about Reggie: he could talk at you for hours and you’d never have to respond. It was helpful for those times when Julie didn’t really want to talk to anyone, but she still wanted that sense of company.

She sighed. Her elbow had been resting on the door latch for a bit, and her arm was starting to tingle. She maneuvered the latch and pulled the door open with her fingertips. Julie shuffled into the room and dropped her load onto the couch. She had to fumble around for the light switch, but eventually she got the lights working.

The studio was exactly the same as when she’d last left it. Alex’s drum set was set up in the center of the room, and Reggie and Luke’s guitars were set in their stands next to the light switch. She let her mouth lift into a soft smile as she ran her fingers over the neck of Luke’s instrument. Even if they were gone, they’d still left pieces of themselves behind. She wondered if it was on purpose – if they had left her something to remember them by.

Now that she was looking for them, Julie could see little hints of her ghost friends all over the studio. Reggie’s favorite red flannel was draped over the back of the couch, exactly where he’d left it when he’d pulled it off during rehearsal yesterday claiming that he was too hot (“Actually, dude, I’d rate you a solid medium,” Alex had quipped).

A black ball-cap hung from a hook on the wall, and Julie was reminded of the first time she’d met the guys. She’d been surprised when Alex had taken the cap off for the first time to see that the drummer had _quite_ the head of blonde hair. He’d grinned sheepishly at the time and said, “Our manager said my hair was too girly for a rock band. Easier to wear a cap than cut it.”

“Well, there’s no need for that here,” Julie said out loud, remembering her own part of the conversation. **_What you do with your hair is your business and no one else’s_** _._ Alex’s face had lit up at her words, and Reggie had thrown her a thumbs up behind Alex’s back. The cap hadn’t shown up at a concert since.

Julie approached the grand piano and brushed her fingers over the black book innocently resting atop the polished surface. When Luke had first brought out the songbook, Julie had been impressed with how well it had weathered twenty-five years. Its spine was broken from use, and the cover had some scratches here and there. But, most importantly, the pages within the black covers were still perfectly intact. She thought about opening it. She thought about flipping through the pages. She thought about stopping on every song, reading through the lyrics and chords. She could still see some of the pages Luke had dog-eared.

**_I dog-eared the ones that I think you would slay._ **

She pushed the book away. Not yet. She wouldn’t look through it just yet.

Julie turned away from the piano and walked back over to the couch. It was easy enough to separate her pillow from her comforter and spread them out to make something bed-like. After she’d finished, she flopped on the couch and sighed heavily. It was so _quiet_ in here.

**_And my couch!_ **

Julie’s lips quirked at the memory of Luke absolutely flopping like a fish onto this very couch only two weeks ago. She opened her eyes and caught sight of the chairs her mother had nailed to the ceiling in a “fit of creative expression” when Julie was nine. 

**_So we’re going with witch?_ **

Julie squeezed her eyes closed in frustration. Had the boys really managed to insert themselves into _every_ memory she’s made in here? She rubbed at her forehead and sighed. Maybe this was a bad idea.

But she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

* * *

Before morning came, Julie had made a new addition to the songbook.

It was titled: “Perfect Harmony” The song called for two voices, a male and a female, and it featured an almost perfect counterpoint between the two voice lines.

It was Julie’s first solo addition to the book. She knew it would be her last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, y'all. Midterms were killer, and the music department is down my throat at the moment :( 
> 
> I've actually had this written for the past week because it was going to be a part of the actual Chapter 3, but after reading through what I have written, it didn't fit tonally. So, it's an interlude! (Also, whoever wanted Julie, you got her!) Title comes from Sara Bareilles's "Gravity".
> 
> Fun Fact: "Perfect Harmony is my favorite song from the show by far, and the main reason is because it's the most theoretically (as in Music Theory) perfect song in the entire show. The two vocal lines mimic perfect counterpoint, which is where the first voice goes in one direction while the other voice goes in the complete opposite direction. So Julie could be climbing up the scale, and Luke would be descending in pitch, and vice-versa. You do this in counterpoint to avoid parallel octaves and fifths - which are huge no nos in "proper part writing" (which you throw out by the time you get to your third semester of Music Theory in college, but whatever old dead German white guys).


End file.
